


Misfit Toys

by Milo



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-09 19:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17412449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milo/pseuds/Milo
Summary: My share of a collaboration with fellow niche writers to create content for underloved characters.





	Misfit Toys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda leaves Zou for the first time with mixed emotions.

It’s the first time Wanda has ever left the back of Zunisha. 

A mixture of anxiety and excitement has her stomach in knots. Leaving her entire world--it felt so profoundly wrong on all levels. She knew such precious little about the world of the bald minks. Nami had told her a few stories of wicked men, heroic battles, and beautiful women, but it wasn’t quite enough to give her a clear picture of the scale of the underworld that lied at Zunisha’s great feet.

She trusts Inuarashi. Always has and always will. After all, he was once a traveler himself long ago. And this trip, too, seems to have sparked a contagious wave of gusto within the old dog. Wanda quietly reminisces about his old stories that he’d once filled her puppyhood with and tries to reclaim some of the spirit of her younger years.

“You’ve been rather quiet, Wanda,” Inuarashi says, eyeing her from above as she watches the ocean waves against the hull. “Something wrong?”

“I…” She pauses, swallows thickly, then turns to her superior. “I’m a bit overwhelmed, I must admit. I’m sorry.”

He chuckles. 

“No need to apologize. I remember my first voyage well, you know,” he says, taking a seat on the deck and allowing Wanda to look him in the eye properly. “In a way, all of us from Zou, we’re all younglings clinging to the back of our parent. That first step away from Zunisha is a step into danger. But it’s also one of independence, yes?”

“I worry that my knowledge will fail me,” Wanda confesses. “By no means do I lack confidence in my abilities, Master Inuarashi, but--” She bows her head slightly. “There are a great many things in this world...how can I be prepared for all of them?”

Inuarashi hums, crosses his paws, and looks out at the sea.

“You can’t,” he states simply. “No one can prepare for the unknown. Not fully.” Then, he draws his lip up in a small side grin, exposing a few teeth. “Even with my experience, this will be something brand new. That’s the thrill of it.”

Wanda manages a small smile in return before again looking out at the foggy ocean. How strange it was that there was no land beneath her paws. Only the vast, mysterious deep blue of the world. Images of splendor and foreign lands she’d once seen in fanciful storybooks pop into her head. A swell of excitement bubbles up.  New places, new faces...was this the same vigor that Nami felt whenever she set foot upon a sailing ship?

“I think I understand it now,” Wanda says. “She spoke so fondly of the world to me. How she would cross every corner and draw every detail...I’d thought it was a lofty goal. Yet--how fun it must be, to see so many things, to be able to recount all these tales...”

“And you’ll have stories to tell yourself when we return,” Inuarashi replies. “Something to fill the imaginations of the next generation of cubs. Perhaps they, too, will want to see the world and share that little corner of ours with many different peoples.”

She nods firmly. Their village of Zou was but a piece in all of this. Home to her and Inuarashi, but to another, it was a beautiful illustration in a child’s fairytale. Something only seen in legend and lore. Those wonderful memories of meeting Nami for the first time; sharing what little they had on their backs, swapping tips and treasures--they were so dear to her. So fresh and new. 

And now she couldn’t help but wonder: how many more lovely people awaited her?


End file.
